Lunch lady saves choking co-worker
Ken Vance
staff reporter
For the past four years, Tressa York has cherished her friendship and working relationship with Teri Monstad. However, she could never have imagined how big of an impact Monstad would one day have on her life.
York works in the lunchroom at Maple Grove School where Monstad serves as the kitchen manager. On March 3, the two were in the middle of what appeared to be just another day on the job. However, all that changed abruptly when York began choking.
“I was talking to our gym teacher (Carrie Kelly) about an article in the paper,’’ said the 34-year-old York, who was also enjoying a salad at the time. “I got to laughing so hard that a whole piece of zucchini got lodged in my throat.’’
The situation quickly became anything but a laughing matter.
“She stood up and I could hear her trying to breathe, so I immediately knew she had swallowed something,’’ said Monstad, who has received first-aid training and is certified in CPR. “I thought it would come up on its own because she was gagging, but it didn’t. She turned around and grabbed my hand and I thought, ‘this is really bad’.’’
The 55-year-old Monstad knew she had to do something, so she began performing the Heimlich maneuver, a technique where chest compressions and thrusts are used in an attempt to dislodge the item responsible for causing the choking.
“She is so tiny, that I was afraid I was going to break her ribs,’’ said Monstad.
According to Monstad and York, the magic number of thrusts was eight. However, those eight efforts by Monstad were over a period estimated to be about 90 seconds. Observers said that York had begun to turn purple and they feared for her life.
“I started to pass out, it was just awful,’’ York said. “It seemed like forever. Of course, I was petrified. I thought I was going to die.’’
By this time, Monstad’s fear of injuring her friend gave way to a greater fear, that for York’s life.
“On the ninth time, I had already decided I was going to break her rib if that’s what it took,’’ Monstad said. “She was already going limp in my arms. It scared me to death.’’
Finally, the piece of zucchini was dislodged and York once again had a clear pathway to breathe.
“Finally, it came out,’’ York said. “Eight times she had to punch my stomach!’’
Monstad, a resident of Hockinson, has worked at Maple Grove for the past 10 years. She said she first sought out the CPR certification because she and her four children lived in a rural location and she wanted to be able to provide aide if needed. Her children are all past school age now, but she kept her certification current anyway.
“You never know when you are going to need it,’’ Monstad said. “This was my first time.’’
Monstad offered one piece of advice to anyone who is called to do what she did.
“Don’t give up,’’ she said. “It’s not like the movies. It doesn’t happen on the first try. I began doubting myself and doubting the maneuver. But, I didn’t give up.’’
It didn’t take the life-saving incident for York to appreciate her dear friend.
“Teri and I have a phenomenal relationship,’’ York said. “She is the best friend I’ve ever had. We do all kinds of stuff together.’’
York, her husband Perry and their two sons--Michael (age 12) and Nicholas (11)--live in Battle Ground. She said that she has considered looking for another school to work at where she could get more hours than she does at Maple Grove. But, Monstad is the reason she doesn’t do that.
“I would never leave this job because she is the best boss in the whole world.’’
In more ways than one.

New Amboy campus brings light, enthusiasm
Brandy Slagle
Staff reporter
Early spring sunlight streams in through the main hallway of Amboy Middle School onto principal Shayla Ebner, who stands at the foot of the stairwell. She watches students climb down the steps from the fifth and sixth grade wing to the ground level, where the seventh and eight grade classrooms are situated.
“I can stand right here and monitor activity on both levels,” she said. “It’s great. We only need one person to watch the activity on both floors between classes.”
Classes have just begun at the north county campus, and a dedication ceremony and open house are scheduled for Thurs., March 13, 6:30 p.m. at Amboy Middle School, 22115 NE Chelatchie Road, Amboy.
Amboy Middle School was the oldest building in the Battle Ground School District, constructed around 1948. Classrooms were separated from the rest of the campus, including the administration building, by a field. Kevin Jolma, district operations director for Battle Ground Schools, said the spread-out campus raised security issues.
Those issues have been quelled by several lock down features on the new building. Administration staff, now located in the same building, can lock the front doors to the campus by the push a button. They can also seal off the classrooms from the cafeteria and commons if an emergency occurrs, said Ebner.
Construction crews added nine classes to the existing classroom building and a commons area for the nearly 600 students who attend the campus.
The project cost about $14.6 million.
Amboy Middle School construction took about nine months to complete, with the first slab of concrete poured last April. Ebner said regular meetings with staff prepared them for the transition into the new building, which they occupied Feb. 19.
“But the students got to move in first,” she said. “We wanted them to have ownership of the building. They put their things in cubbies before we moved in.”
In the technology wing, teachers praise the virtues of 45-second log-on time computer programs, as opposed to 15 minutes. Activity on each computer is monitored on the teacher’s screen so that if students try to log-on to inappropriate Web sites, an instant snapshot can be taken on their screen and forwarded to the principal’s office.
When it is time to demonstrate features on a digital camera, the teacher can place it under a projector and show the entire room, rather than having the students crowd around a desk.
Theresa Wood, a language arts and social studies teacher, said the projector allowed her to her show students a series of artifacts from the dark ages that she would have been unable to share before.
The microphones staff received to amplify their lectures have also been helpful, she said.
“I think the students listen better with these microphones,” said Wood. “There is no strain on our vocal chords.”
Other teachers said they feel less tired at the end of the day because they never have to raise their voices to be heard or to discipline students.
Ebner said students have expressed how much they enjoy the natural light and the new heating and cooling system. Other students have said they are relieved their classrooms “no longer smell like mildew.”
Dean Rintala teaches math and science in the one of the school’s four new science labs.
“We love it,” he said of the building. “The other building was 60 years old. I had two (electricity) outlets in my room. Students have even told me that this building almost makes them feel like they want to come to school.”
Other new features at Amboy Middle School include multi-use study pods built into the center of each classroom wing to facilitate group learning and individualized instruction. The special education classrooms are completely self-contained. Amenities such as bathrooms with showers, stoves and refrigerators are found in each of the rooms.
“The media center is as good as can be found at any college,” Ebner said. The long room stretches across the left side of the building, across from the administrative wing and has new computer stations.
The cafeteria includes large glass, garage-styled windows that can be rolled up on warm days to circulate fresh air. It also features a large performance-ready stage with projectors and lighting equipment.
“The students love the cafeteria,” she said. “Before they had to eat in their classrooms. Now they can sit with their friends.”
Ebner said the entrance to the school is decorated with timber to represent the history of logging in the community. An art committee will soon be formed to determine what will decorate the walls and hallways of the campus.
The school was built around the existing gym structure. Ebner said district administration have told her they would like to refurbish the room, but without the bond money behind it, they aren’t sure how it will be done.
Plans have been sketched for sports fields on the 51 acres of land across SR-503 from Amboy Middle School. District officials have said the land could be used as a future high school campus, which would eliminate long bus rides for north county students, allowing them to remain in their community. A $19.5 million bond item which would have been used to construct the high school failed to pass by about 3 percent in the 2005 election.
The future of the old Amboy Middle School building remains uncertain.